Never in my life have I been so certain that a different director could have done better.SPOILERS-

Rating: 6/10 (17 August 2006)

***Possible spoilers!!!***
With such a fantastic story, a good director could have done wonders. However, a director who lets his/her vision get in the way of telling the story could make a chaotic and dragging piece that leaves one hating the producers for having chosen him/her. Guess which type of director we have here? The story is wonderful- A young man starts to wonder about his life in his subterranean hive-like society and whether everything is as it seems. The earth is said to have undergone horrible contamination and the people below its surface are the only survivors. The garish lottery in which people win trips to "The Island" (the one uncontaminated piece of land left) is the highlight of everyone's day. After some tense scenes that were done very very well, we find out that he is, indeed, not a young man. He is the clone of someone who lives on the surface. He is, euphemistically said, that person's "insurance policy." When one wins The Lottery, one is sent off with great fanfare but, in actuality, it's organ (or baby) harvesting time. The love interest then wins The Lottery. Of course a long chase ensues. Long. Very very long. It lasts roughly fifty minutes. Yes, 50 minutes. In a movie that is paced tightly, that would not have been a problem. This movie is not that. Only a better director could have managed that. This story would have been done supreme justice by Ridley Scott, for example. In fact, were I the screenwriter, I would never allow the producers to use my work again.